Zelizer, Julian E. On Capitol Hill: The Struggle to Reform Congress and its Consequences, 1948–2000 (2006) Bolton, John R. (January 5, 2009). "Restore the Senate's Treaty Power". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021 . Retrieved February 20, 2017. Holds can be overcome, but require time-consuming procedures such as filing cloture. Holds are considered private communications between a senator and the leader, and are sometimes referred to as "secret holds". A senator may disclose the placement of a hold.

Amar, Vik D. (January 1, 1988). "The Senate and the Constitution". The Yale Law Journal. 97 (6): 1111–1130. doi: 10.2307/796343. JSTOR 796343. S2CID 53702587. Rusch, Elizabeth (2020). You call this democracy?: how to fix our government and deliver power to the people. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 978-0-358-17692-3. OCLC 1124772479. Apart from rules governing civility, there are few restrictions on the content of speeches; there is no requirement that speeches pertain to the matter before the Senate.A senator must be thirty years of age at least; as a representative must be twenty-five. And the former must have been a citizen nine years; as seven years are required for the latter. The propriety of these distinctions is explained by the nature of the senatorial trust, which, requiring greater extent of information and stability of character, requires at the same time that the senator should have reached a period of life most likely to supply these advantages; and which, participating immediately in transactions with foreign nations, ought to be exercised by none who are not thoroughly weaned from the prepossessions and habits incident to foreign birth and education. The term of nine years appears to be a prudent mediocrity between a total exclusion of adopted citizens, whose merits and talents may claim a share in the public confidence, and an indiscriminate and hasty admission of them, which might create a channel for foreign influence on the national councils. [20] Under certain circumstances, the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 provides for a process called " reconciliation" by which Congress can pass bills related to the budget without those bills being subject to a filibuster. This is accomplished by limiting all Senate floor debate to 20 hours. [53]

We collect, use and are responsible for certain personal information about you. When we do so we are regulated under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 and we are responsible as ‘controller’ of that personal information for the purposes of those laws. The Senate chamber is located in the north wing of the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. The vice president of the United States serves as presiding officer and president of the Senate by virtue of that office, despite not being a senator, and has a vote only if the Senate is equally divided. In the vice president's absence, the president pro tempore, who is traditionally the senior member of the party holding a majority of seats, presides over the Senate. In the early 1920s, the practice of majority and minority parties electing their floor leaders began. The Senate's legislative and executive business is managed and scheduled by the Senate majority leader. The powers of the Senate concerning nominations are, however, subject to some constraints. For instance, the Constitution provides that the president may make an appointment during a congressional recess without the Senate's advice and consent. The recess appointment remains valid only temporarily; the office becomes vacant again at the end of the next congressional session. Nevertheless, presidents have frequently used recess appointments to circumvent the possibility that the Senate may reject the nominee. Furthermore, as the Supreme Court held in Myers v. United States, although the Senate's advice and consent are required for the appointment of certain executive branch officials, it is not necessary for their removal. [70] [71] Recess appointments have faced a significant amount of resistance and in 1960, the U.S. Senate passed a legally non-binding resolution against recess appointments. [ citation needed] a b "How majority rule works in the U.S. Senate". Nieman Watchdog. July 31, 2009. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021 . Retrieved March 4, 2013. The remaining thirty-eight states provide for gubernatorial appointments, "with the appointed senator serving the balance of the term or until the next statewide general election". [25] :8–9When the House and the Senate Are Controlled by Different Parties, Who Wins?". The New York Times. July 11, 2018 . Retrieved November 21, 2023.